We are interviewing 150 younger and 150 older alcoholic women drawn from treatment facilities in southeast Michigan. 200 non-alcoholic women will be interviewed as a comparison sample. The 2-hour interview includes: Personality characteristics and attitudes, symptoms and problems, sex-role identification, past and present experience in adult roles, (work, marriage, parent), childhood and adolescent history, social support system, health history, drinking history, and demographics. Among the primary goals of the project are to: a) Compare younger and older alcoholic women and younger alcoholic and non-alcoholic women with an emphasis on identifying the etiology and consequences and developmental progression of alcoholism in younger women; b) Distinguish characteristics, histories, and experiences of recent and early onset younger and older alcoholic women; c) Identify patterns of psychosocial sources and consequences of alcoholism in women; d) Relate developmental progression of drinking problems to personality, roles, and social support; e) Compare alcoholic women with heroin addicted women, using data from the Women's Drug Research Project; f) Identify the mediating effects of social support systems as they affect drinking behavior and change over time; g) Collect intensive life history interviews with a small number of women. The research has broad implications for treatment and prevention of alcoholism in women.